Yainer Diaz DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz will get the day off on Friday for the series opener in Kansas City against the Royals. Victor Caratini will replace him behind the plate and catch right-hander Hayden Wesneski while batting seventh against Royals veteran right-hander Seth Lugo. Diaz will get a day off to start the series in KC after getting off to a sluggish start to the season with the bat. The 26-year-old Dominican backstop has gone 13-for-75 (.173) with just one home run, eight RBI, six runs scored, three walks and 16 strikeouts in his first 20 games. The good news, though, is that he went 4-for-12 with a double, triple and RBI in the team's recent three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays, so fantasy managers will be hoping he can continue that this weekend. Caratini has hit .429 with an .858 OPS in seven career at-bats against Lugo, but he still represents a weak DFS play at the position.

Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz was just 2-for-33 on the season coming into Friday's game against the Angels, but he broke through in a big way, going 3-for-5 with a double, his first home run of the season, and five RBI. His home run was a grand slam in the fifth inning off of relief pitcher Garrett McDaniels, and he added his RBI double in the sixth to help power the Astros to a 14-3 victory. Diaz is still hitting just .132 over his first 10 games of the season with a .199 wOBA, but hopefully, this is a sign that he's ready to snap out of his slump and go on a roll. Last year, he had 16 homers and a .329 wOBA with 84 RBI in 148 games, and his fantasy managers will hope this big game gets him back on track.

Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz is not in the starting nine when the Astros travel to Minnesota to face the Twins on Thursday afternoon. Diaz has been behind the dish in each of the past three contests but will cede duties to Victor Caratini this afternoon. Caratini will bat in the six-hole. Over his past three contests, Diaz tallied just one hit across 11 at-bats and struck out twice through five total games. Diaz has tallied just two hits and held a 1:4 BB:K. Fantasy managers should expect Diaz to return to the starting nine on Saturday afternoon when they continue this three-game set against the Twins. Caratini has seen four at-bats and tallied one hit. He is best to leave out of your DFS lineup this afternoon facing Minnesota right-hander Joe Ryan, who allowed one run across five innings in his last start.